{"id":95,"date":"2025-04-28T12:57:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T19:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/?p=95"},"modified":"2025-05-03T09:05:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T16:05:33","slug":"forgeries-and-false-confidence-inside-tiktoks-biggest-art-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/2025\/04\/28\/forgeries-and-false-confidence-inside-tiktoks-biggest-art-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgeries and False Confidence: Inside TikTok’s Biggest Art Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Culture Writer<\/p>

Caroline M.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n

Theft<\/a><\/div>\n\n

TikTok user @ActuallyKindaComplete is not really an art historian. @ActuallyKindaComplete doesn\u2019t have a doctorate in anything or a mysteriously wealthy family member. The creator does not have much of a pedigree to speak of, let alone create a TikTok art education account with, but the creator didn\u2019t let their lack of credentials stop them from successfully marketing an account with over 600,000 followers\u2014or raking in the profits. In February 2024, @ActuallyKindaComplete, whose civilian name is the unassuming Meredith Kelley, entered the ranks of Caroline Calloway <\/a>and Anna Delvey<\/a> in the craft of social media scamming, garnering criticism from art historians, economists, and angry art super-fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting down with @ActuallyKindaComplete is like meeting a distant relative; Kelley will tell you everything about herself\u2014much of which you already know\u2014but each new piece of information only affirms your distance. For instance, she will be the first to admit that the scheme was simple: she paid one artist to create a forgery of a famed Tamara de Lempicka masterpiece and an actor to falsely attribute it to the artist. Add in the convenient, invisible paper trail of the TikTok Shop and the culpability of the Sotheby\u2019s auction house conglomerate, and any internet scammer worth their salt would agree that Kelley was merely taking advantage of an already broken system of art commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was bored…”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kelley first launched her TikTok page in 2020, posting educational videos in major museum institutions and historical houses. Her fifteen- to thirty-second short films typically included simplistic choreography to trending TikTok music with relevant song lyrics or the creator lip-syncing to memetic audio, with additional close-up footage highlighting details of the art. Many videos on her page were companion pieces to these musical films, in which Kelley, who introduced herself as \u201cyour friendly art non-expert,\u201d explained aspects of the art\u2019s period, style, techniques, and creator by creating her own plot line for each work\u2019s subjects. In the videos, Kelley\u2019s delivery of this Wikipedia-level knowledge through fantastical storytelling was breezy and confident, providing an air of knowledgeable nonchalance with a thick Staten Island accent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really like old houses and old art,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cTikTok is great for people like that. And to be honest, I never thought people would think I\u2019m an expert in anything.\u201d Kelley went to the University of Connecticut to study social work before quitting in 2022 to focus on her TikTok page. \u201cAnd you know I never pretended to be an expert; I just wanted to tell stories. It was a great job to have, and even better to run my own business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

@ActuallyKindaComplete is not the first art fanatic to strike while the TikTok iron is hot. Museums and history teachers alike have jumped on the platform as a method for discoverability and art education. Legacy art institutions like the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy have made use of TikTok to share and interpret prominent works of art and generate engaged visitorship from younger audiences, creating videos like Kelley\u2019s by utilizing popular music, dances, and creators to display collections. Similarly, institutions will create long-form content aimed at detailing the work\u2019s historical contexts, adopting a disquietingly serious tone that rarely integrates well <\/a>with the vertical-scrolling format of the TikTok interface and user culture. Kelley\u2019s blending of contemporary audio and linguistics with accurate, albeit simplistic, explanations of art and its historical contexts served as this necessary alternative for institution-sponsored art education, providing viewers with knowledge and Kelley with over twenty million views on her @ActuallyKindaComplete page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley learned much about art history from her page, too: \u201cI never knew about movements, techniques, and styles. There were so many other art history creators on TikTok that I watched and who commented on my stuff. It was like being in this big community where everyone was trying to learn and share and entertain. I had the money to go to galleries all over the U.S. and see art I never would have dreamed of seeing. And I got to meet and platform artists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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@uffizigalleries<\/a>

E tu quale preferisci? \ud83e\udd2a #primavera<\/a> #venere<\/a> #uffizigalleries<\/a> #johntravolta<\/a> #MemeCut<\/a> #pulpfiction<\/a><\/p> \u266c suono originale – uffizisocial<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>